Mogulus Aims to Bring Linear TV to the Internet With Pro Service

"Producers want to run a linear channel," he said. "They want to control the audience. If you look at the large media companies, they really understand that. They already realize that they can generate much more traffic through scheduling and controlling an audience as opposed to just putting clips on a website."

Company History
Mogulus, which is based in New York City, was formed in January 2007 and launched its free service in mid-November of that year. According to Haot, there are about 60,000 producers currently using the free version with around 300 new ones joining every day. The company also has raised about $2.7 million in private funding so far and plans to announce more soon, he said.

The company’s ultimate goal is to promote linear, TV-like programming on the internet, Haot said. According to him, the perception that users want to consume only on-demand content online is wrong, and he pointed to online radio as an example.

"In music, everything is truly available on demand," he said. "Why are people tuning into online radio? Why aren’t people creating user-generated radio because clearly most people have access to these files anyway? Sometimes you just want to tune in to something."

Haot said neither linear nor on-demand programming should dominate the market and, instead, must co-exist. To that end, Mogulus has announced that it will add an on-demand component to each of its channels that will allow producers to make previous live shows and other content available to viewers at any time.

According to Haot, "on-demand is an important part of the experience," but "providing the full experience" is what is really important.

Mogulus Pro Launch
The company will release Mogulus Pro to the public in early July, according to Haot. Producers will be able to sign up for the service at www.mogulus.com, and the entry-level cost will be under $100 a month, he said.